


Changing the Game

by Mmeat



Category: Homestuck, Homestuck Intermission - Fandom, Intermission - Fandom
Genre: Animal Death, I'll add more tags as I update this, M/M, Other, Smoking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-20 00:31:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17012091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mmeat/pseuds/Mmeat
Summary: Your name is Die, and you just ditched the lousy lot of fools knows as The Felt to join The Midnight Crew, who'd finally put your abilities to use.





	1. Welcome to the crew

Die never thought he could find so much comfort in the Midnight Crew's secret hideout. Just a week early the idea of these men being Felt Enemy #1 was still constantly being drilled into his mind. Look at him now. "You've got just about everything... Droog, what am I missing?" "Deck of cards?" "Your right! Deck of cards, go get those." Droog rose from his seat in the recliner, sighing while Slick grinned at him, showing his array of razor sharp teeth. The underground hideout was so much more cozy, so much more pleasing to the eye than the felt manor ever could be- though it'd take him some time to get use to the lack of windows... and the lack of clocks. "You sure you're ok? That little trick you did earlier sure seemed to wear you out." Deuce queried from the adjacent seat, tilting his round little head to the side as he spoke. "It's been long since I've performed something of that size... but I'll be just fine." His magic always drained his energy, and while that was likely to be a larger problem in the feature, at least he was being given the chance to use it. "So where'd ya learn that stuff?" "I think it's in my blood. Guess I was just kind of... born with this embedded knowledge. The rest is all from years of reading and practice." Droog returns, passing Die the deck before returning to his seat, leaning back and crossing his legs. It took a moment for the leprachaun to move his eyes away from the taller man. Die then began to take a card, flip it over and back upwards again before placing it at the bottom of the deck. He did this a whoping 52 times until the original card was back ontop. "So I can place whatever I want in here?" "Yeah. Assume you don't got a lot with you right now, maybe we can break into the manor and steal any objects precious to you." He assessed the situation, his new ebony clothing, his new home, his former gang... Your name is Die, and you just ditched the lousy lot of fools knows as The Felt to join The Midnight Crew, who'd finally put your abilities to use.


	2. What Happened?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crowbar decided to dig deeper into Die's Disappearance. 
> 
> Now with hopefully less Alliteration as the description. Whoops.

Breakfast was silent and awkward, it had been for a week. Crowbar glanced up from his meal to the empty seat beside him, looking at the scratch marks on the side of the chair and the end of the table. Die would always do that when they got talking about something he didn't like, Stitch just said it was an old nervous habit of his. Everything was a nervous habit when it came to Die. The way he clutched his doll so hard his knuckles would go white, or how he'd wander the halls in the middle of the night and freeze up like a deer in the headlights when caught... they could'nt just keep ignoring the fact he had up and left. 

"Can we talk about the situation?"  
"What's there to talk about, Die threw one of his fits." Itchy responded, mouth full of food. What a slob.  
"He threw a fit because you killed his chickens!"  
Itchy stopped, that did happen, didn't it? Die had some sort of odd connection to those birds. Something about them scaring off false dreams or something. Die claimed he saw things in his dreams, that they always tied into something current, apparently he also thought the chickens helped somehow.  
"Fin? Trace?" Crowbar looked towards the two sharks, Trace spoke up.  
"Me and Fin've tried to find a trail out in Midnight City, but there's so many out there we can't figure out which one is his."  
Great, so they couldn't find out where he'd been in the past or be in the future... who else was there that could help?  
"Stitch?"  
"The kid isn't dead, but he sure as hell cant take care of himself for too long. He's most likely found someone to stay with and keep him hidden."  
"...Clover, take a lucky guess."  
Clover probably knew as much as everyone else, but when he took a lucky guess, he almost always got it right.  
"I think he might've made contact with the crew."  
"DAMN IT!"  
Crowbar slammed his fist against the table, startling more than a few of the other leprechauns. For once, he hoped Clover was wrong. There was no way Die could be with the Midnight Crew, he was afraid of his own shadow... unless they were holding him hostage. Crowbar stood up and left without a word, speed-walking to his bedroom. If Die was a hostage, the felt would've already received a letter, perhaps they were interrogating him? No, he would've already cracked under pressure. What else, what else...  
Crowbar took a seat in his swivel chair, lighting a cigarette as he kicked his feet up into his desk. No, Die wouldn't have. What if the death of his poultry was finally enough to make him snap, what if he had switched sides.

Your name is Crowbar, and you're going to find out what happened to the madman that was Number 6, and before The Doc returns to lecture you.


	3. What's to be scared of?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Die and Hearts Boxcars have an early morning discussion, Die admits some more personal things

Hearts Boxcars couldn't sleep, that wasn't usual. What was unusual, however, was the noise coming from the kitchen, metal clanking and hinges on cupboard doors squeaking- it was a surprise the others hadn't woken up. Hearts got from his bed and headed to the kitchen, moving as quietly as possible just in case it happened to be an unwanted visitor. He flicked on the light switch, only to be met with Die standing in the middle of the kitchen, one hand holding a frying pan up to his chest and the other playing with the straps on his undershirt. He didn't speak or move, only staring at the much, much larger man.   
"It's 3 AM! Why are you making yourself breakfast?"  
"It's morning isn't it?"  
"Fair enough."  
He watched as Die tried over and over to place the pan on the stove, each time deciding it was too off centre. He was more shaky than normal.  
"Was something keeping you up?"  
The Leprachaun nodded.  
"What was it... were you missing someone?"  
His nod was delayed this time, almost like he was ashamed.   
"Come on, kid. Bottling it up isn't going to help you much. Who is it?"  
"You'd laugh."  
"Promise I won't."  
Boxcars put out his hand to Die, who stared at it for a quiet few moments. The carapace didn't struggle to grab the smaller man's hand in a gentle handshake, while Die couldn't even manage to wrap his thin fingers around Boxcars' wrist.   
"So who is it?"  
Die pulled his hand from the other's grip and turned to gas stove against, slowly turning the knob till a small flame burst out.  
"Doze. I-I... I'm in charms with him." His response was hushed, barely audiable as he reached for a carton of eggs and cracked one into the frying pan. He winced as it sizzled.  
"That slow poke-"  
"You said you wouldn't laugh!" Die raised his voice, only to quickly move his hands to his mouth. That was much louder than he intended, his eyes instantly went to Boxcars, expecting to be scoulded. Crowbar always got mad when he shouted, or stared, or- god, Crowbar was just always mad.  
"Hey, hey! I'm sorry- oh come on, don't cry."   
Tears began to stream down Die's face staining his already dark fabric-like skin, his breathing picking up pace. Maybe it was just be sheer size of the other man that scared him more than others would, or maybe it was just the lack of sleep that made his emotions worse.   
"Cr-crowbar al-always g-g-got mad wh-when I-I-I-"  
"Hey, Crowbar ain't here... just try to keep it quiet when everyone else is asleep."   
Hearts lifted his eyes to look at the frying pan and the single egg inside of it, that was going to burn soon if someone didn't pay attention.   
"Sit down, Tell me more about Doze."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was thinking about it and Die/Doze might be a pretty good ship.


	4. Contemplating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're finally onto something- not that it'll help much

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short one huh? It's midnight and this is all I have to offer.

"Boss! Boss! We got something!"  
If it wasn't for Trace shouting and pounding at the door, Crowbar would've been caught drifting off. He couldn't find anything about Die's dissappearance, no one ever payed attention to him and he must've been using that to his advantage. In walked Trace, followed by Clover, who wore a wide grin on his face.  
"Boss! We got a clue!"  
Crowbar motioned for the two to take a seat, "what is it?"  
"Well, I decided to bring Clover along with the hopes his luck could help me root out Die's past trail- I've got some good news and some bad news. We've found his Trail and his scent is still fresh in my mind..."  
"Bad news?"  
"He... uh... he must've been hanging out with Clubs Deuce..."  
"Deuce? You telling me Die willing was getting chummy with the enemy?"  
"Yeah, in the one little pub he really likes on the other side of the city. Y'know, the one where it's always dark and there's that corner seat."  
Crowbar leaned his head back and groaned, Die really did double cross them, didn't he?  
"Thank you, boys... I need some time to think."  
With a nod, Trace and Clover left, closing the door behind them. Was it Itchy's constant and tedious pranks? Clover's playful habits? The lack of attention he'd been receiving from Stitch, or-  
How often Crowbar yelled at him. It clicked in the third-in-command's mind, on the night that Die ran off he'd been yelling, what was it about... Die had broken a clock, amongst a series of other things. God, what if he was the one that finally broke the poor fool, scared him off for good. Crowbar leaded against his desk and put his face into his hands, how could they get Die back? He had bad relationships with just about everyone, and he didn't had any of those birds to come back to, they'd have to go out there, find him, and drag him back to the manor.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short little chapter but I can guarantee this'll get longer


End file.
